Dahl v. State

Court
Below-Superior Court of the State of Delaware Cr. ID No.
9905002754

Before
HOLLAND, VALIHURA, and VAUGHN, Justices.

ORDER

Karen
L. Valihura Justice

This
15th day of March 2017, upon consideration of the
parties' briefs and the Superior Court record, it appears
to the Court that:

(1) The
appellant, William S. Dahl, filed this appeal from the
Superior Court's order of July 7, 2016, denying his
"motion for credit for time served, " which the
Superior Court treated as a motion for correction or
reduction of sentence under Superior Court Criminal Rule 35.
We find no merit to Dahl's appeal. Accordingly, we affirm
the Superior Court's judgment.

(2) The
record reflects that Dahl pled guilty in 1999 to ten counts
of Dealing in Child Pornography in Cr. A. Nos. IN-05-0880
through 0889. This Order refers to Dahl's convictions on
those counts by individual count number.

(3)
Dahl was sentenced on the ten convictions on March 24, 2000.
He was sentenced as follows: Count 0880-two years at Level V;
Count 0881-one year at Level V; Count 0882-one year at Level
V suspended for one year at Level III; Count 0883-one year at
Level V suspended for one year at Level III; Count 0884-one
year at Level V suspended for one year at Level III; Count
0885-one year at Level V suspended for one year at Level III;
Count 0886-one year at Level V suspended for one year at
Level III; Count 0887-one year at Level V suspended for one
year at Level III; Count 0888-one year at Level V suspended
for one year at Level III; Count 0889-one year at Level V
suspended for one year at Level III.

(4) On
April 19, 2011, Dahl was found guilty of his fourth violation
of probation ("VOP"). He was sentenced as follows:
Count 0883-nine months at Level V; Count 0884-nine months at
Level V; Count 0885-nine months at Level V suspended for nine
months at Level IV followed by one year at Level III; Count
0886-nine months at Level V suspended for one year at Level
III; Count 0887-nine months at Level V suspended for one year
at Level III; Count 0888- nine months at Level V suspended
for one year at Level III; Count 0889-nine months at Level V
suspended for one year at Level III.

(5) In
November 2013, while on Level III, Dahl was arrested in
Philadelphia on new charges. Dahl was returned to Delaware on
November 21, 2013 and incarcerated on his fifth charge of
VOP. Dahl remained incarcerated on the charged VOP until
August 3, 2014, when he was extradited to the Federal
Detention Center in Philadelphia. Dahl remained incarcerated
in Philadelphia until May 27, 2015, when he was returned to
Delaware to face the VOP charge.

(6)
Dahl was found guilty of his fifth VOP on September 15, 2015.
He was sentenced as follows: Count 0885-nine months at Level
V with credit for nine months previously served; Count
0886-nine months at Level V with credit for three months and
two days previously served; Count 0887-nine months at Level
V; Count 0888-nine months at Level V; Count 0889-nine months
at Level V.

(7) On
June 15, 2016, Dahl filed a "motion for credit for time
served" claiming that the Superior Court did not credit
him for the full amount of time he spent incarcerated while
waiting to proceed on the fifth charge of VOP. Dahl is
correct that if a defendant is found guilty of a VOP, the
sentence imposed must account for any time the defendant
spent incarcerated on the underlying charge of
VOP.[1]
By order dated July 7, 2016, the Superior Court denied
Dahl's motion on the basis that the sentence imposed on
September 15, 2015, properly credited him for all of the time
he was incarcerated while waiting to proceed on the VOP. This
appeal followed.

(8) On
appeal, Dahl continues to claim that he has not received all
of the credit owed to him. Specifically, Dahl contends that
the Superior Court erred when applying nine months of his
accrued credit to Count 0885. Dahl states that he completed
the sentence in Count 0885 in February 2013 when he was
released from Level IV to Level III. Dahl contends that the
court should have applied the nine months of accrued credit
to one of the other Counts in the September 15, 2015
sentence.

(9)
Having carefully considered the parties' positions on
appeal, we conclude that Dahl's claim is without merit.
When imposing the sentence on April 19, 2011 on Dahl's
fourth VOP, the Superior Court sentenced Dahl on Count 0885
to nine months at Level V suspended for nine months at Level
IV. Dahl states that he served those nine months in Level IV
...

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